


It is Defiance, that redeems you

by Adeline_Hatter



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Flashbacks, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Memory Alteration, Mindwipe, Multi, Snippets, The Master is the kid who pushed them off the cliff, the timeless child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:47:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28511400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adeline_Hatter/pseuds/Adeline_Hatter
Summary: They didn't really know who they were, all they wished for really was a friend.
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who)
Kudos: 15





	It is Defiance, that redeems you

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the person who's been breaking my heart recently- YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE 
> 
> Also I don't know how to really tag this.

“How come you can change your face?” The little boy looks up at the window and asks this. 

They blink, looking down at him, “I don’t know.” 

His face scrunches up, he’s very small, they think to themselves, smaller than he seems when he speaks, “How can you not know?”    
  
“I just don’t-”    
  
_ “Foundling? Where is my Foundling?” _

They leave the boy at the window and go to where they’re Mother is waiting. 

* * *

  
  


“It’s changed again!” A few weeks pass and the boy looks up at the window again, they look down at him once again, curiosity marks his face and they blink at it, “Have you worked it out?”   
  
The Foundling blinks again, “No, but Mother is trying.” 

“How is she trying?” He asks and it’s an innocent question. 

They’re brain hurts a little bit, “I don’t think I remember exactly.” 

“That doesn’t sound possible….” 

They’re Mother calls and they leave the boy at the window again. 

* * *

  
  


“What’s your name?” He is taller- No, older, that was the word, like Mother was getting older, they could see the gray in her hair. 

“Foundling.” 

It is the boy’s turn to blink at them, “That’s not your name, it can’t be-”    
  
“FOUNDLING!” 

They leave the boy at the window, wondering why it cannot be their name. 

* * *

  
  


They get to go outside today, the boy from the window is there in the courtyard and they watch his face move, brighten if that’s possible as they approach. 

“It’s you!” He yells it and approaches them to the point that they jump back a bit, so they watch him slow and take a step back before offering his hand and they stare at it, perplexed until he moves it away again, “Welcome! You’re face has changed again hasn’t it?”    
  
They feel their lips move upwards, “Mother still doesn’t understand why thought…” 

“Doesn’t it only change if you die?” His question is innocent, but his face is growing less bright, galaxies swirl in his eyes, “Can you change it without dying?”

They go to shake their head before they feel a hand on their shoulder, leading them away again, leaving the boy in the courtyard. 

* * *

  
  


They look out the window at the courtyard, body aching, though they are taller now as well, it’s nice being taller, easier to look out at the world. 

“Was that you screaming last night?” They jump and turn their eyes downwards, the boy looks up at them, his face isn’t bright but he seems like he glows with the sunshine out there, “I heard screaming and wondered if it was yours?” 

The questions seem to be confusing, why would they have wondered?

“Yes, it was me.” They speak out to the boy, whose eyebrows furrow, “But why does that matter?” 

The Boy with Galaxies in his eyes looks at them with an expression they are not familiar with, “I was worried, why were you screaming?”

“Mother worked it out.” 

“....How, your face changes?”

“Yes.” 

“But why were you screaming?”   
  
“I-”    
  
“FOUNDLING!” 

They turn from the window and leave the boy below it. 

* * *

  
  


It hurts, they are taking and it hurts. 

They open their lips and screams come out. 

Why does it hurt-    
  
“Mother why does it hurt-”    
  
“Hush my foundling.” 

They hush. 

* * *

  
  


Sleep doesn’t come, they cannot feel much but a dull ache in their very bones, they have not changed their face again. 

Mother has changed her face, says that they are to call her ‘Father’ now instead. 

They are told they will be called ‘He’ and ‘Him’ from now on too, a whirlwind of never-ending confusion. 

Fear edges in, but they push it away, they curl into a ball in their bed and do not look out of their window, they do not let themselves wonder if the boy is down below. 

* * *

  
  


They open their eyes later into the night and find galaxies swirling back at them. 

It is almost enough of a surprise that they fall out of bed, but they don’t just barely managing not to. 

A finger comes to rest on the lips of the boy from below they’re window, the boy whom they see in the courtyard, with wide dark and impossible eyes.

“I’m getting you out of here.” The Boy whispers to them, then holds out his hand. 

They slide it into his without much of a second thought, rosy fawn against golden brown as they let the boy pull them from their bed and out into the hallway. 

They start to run together, the building has changed so much over the last few years already, they run until they reach corners, they run until they reach doors and they check. 

Hands clasped together as the yelling starts, as the thunder of feet climb and they keep going, hands held- Feet moving- Pulses thumping- 

They fly down the corridors, out the door and into the fields beyond of red grass swaying in the breeze, the dark sky above them as they go. 

However, they do not get further than that.

The boy falls with a loud shriek of pain, they go with him, landing in the grass as people approach them, two by two and they take the boy into their lap turning their gaze towards Father, who appears from the ground of beings holding things they have never seen. 

“Foundling, come here.” Father’s voice is deeper and stronger than before and it drives something into their brain more so than before, “Leave that child and come here.” 

They turn their gaze downwards to the boy in their arms, eyes still alive and dancing but those swirling galaxies are fading, “ _ I’m sorry.”  _ It’s spoken softly, as they can feel the boy’s pulse lessen, his breathing slowing, “ _ It’s all my fault, I pushed you…”  _

Kindness, that’s what shone in the boys face and eyes, every time without fail, even now, lying in the Foundling’s arms, dying, there was still kindness. 

The Foundling looked at Tecteun as golden light swirled into the area, one point, then two, then three, their own eyes started to burn as the confused yelling of these  _ people  _ of these…  _ Mean  _ people looked upon them. 

“What are you doing, Foundling?” It’s a cold and angry choice of words, warmth gone from when they were told to call this man Father, “Foundling, come here- Stop this-” 

They didn’t know how as they gave for the kindness they had been given. 

“I…” The Foundling breathes, letting the energy pour out of them into the boy with the impossible eyes, “I am defying you.” 

The Boy took a deep breath in their arms. 

* * *

  
  


_ “What do we do? The Foundling has never given before…”  _

_ “How many regenerations was he given?”  _

_ “We don’t know, we cannot see how many-” _

_ “YOU CANNOT SEE?” It is a yell and it shakes the room, someone in the small crowd flinches and others step back, “Well, we will simply have to take them out of him-”  _

_ The room is silent, until a woman steps forward, young and untested, “We tried already, they won’t come out.” She flinches as they all watch Tecteun slam his hands down on the table, she is not the only one. _

_ “It is quite a simple solution.” A Man steps forwards, one whom Tecteun is familiar with already, “We shall use both of them from now on, tell me exactly how deep the changes went…” _

_ Tecteun stares at Rassilon and Rassilon stares straight back, “How do we use both of them?” _

_ “For research, knowledge and power.”  _

* * *

  
  


“This won’t hurt a bit.” 

_ It’s what they said but it’s a lie, they all lie. _

That is the last thought the Foundling has. 

  
  



End file.
